# "Cosmetics Cop" compares Cheap vs Expensive Facial Cream



## ColdDayInHell (Apr 11, 2008)

Source

Reported by: John Matarese

Its a question that women have been asking for decades: Will spending more money at the makeup counter give you better looking skin?

The cosmetics companies want us to think so....but one woman is on a mission to prove them wrong.

Paula Begoun has spent 20 years calling herself "The Cosmetics Cop." The author of the book "Don't go to the Cosmetics Counter without me" has a simple message: No cream, no matter the price, will eliminate wrinkles.

Paula says "there isn't a cosmetic skin care product in putting a cosmetic surgeon out of business. If it worked, no one would have wrinkles."

*Expensive vs Cheaper Products*

During a recent stop in our studios...the Seattle based author told me many drugstore brands are fine. Plenty of cosmetics companies would disagree...but Paula says a $7 jar of Olay or a $4 tube of Neutrogena can be as good as products costing $40, $50 or more."

Example? She says a 60 dollar bottle of "Creme de la Mer" cleanser is no better than inexpensive "Cera Ve," which is a fraction of the price. She says "its a great cleanser: $12 for 12 ounces at the drugstore. The only place you'll notice a difference is in your budget."

Some of Paula's recommended brands:

-Avon

-Neutrogena

-Olay Regenerist

*Eye Cream Warning*

Another pet peeve of Paula's: Expensive tiny jars of eye cream.

Paula tells me"what they end up doing is giving you half as much of eye cream...and charging you twice as much, and telling you its concentrated. In most cases, it;'s the same formula."

Another tip: she also suggests buying moisturizer in airtight bottles, not widemouth jars.

Wide jars, she says, are not air tight ..."so that $300 expensive moisturizer, once you open it, stick your finger in it, all the expensive ingredients would be gone in no time."

*Creams as good as Botox?*

Paula's final piece of advice: Beware any facial cream comparing itself to Botox injections.

She says if a product in a jar was really as as good as Botox...Botox's manufacturers would be out of business in a week, as would all the plastic surgeons who inject it.

So she says *Dont Waste your Money* on outrageous claims.


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## Duchess Ravenwaves (Apr 11, 2008)

That's very interesting!


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## Maysie (Apr 11, 2008)

I really like Paula. Cool article!


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## Angels_Decay (Apr 11, 2008)

Thanks for posting... I still like my semi-expencive products better though. I still do need help with an eyecream.... I've never found anything I'v liked...


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## Dragonfly (Apr 11, 2008)

Labrat, I am so jealous! I would love to meet Paula.

I think she is terrific. I have been reading her books for years and she has a fabulous site - cosmeticscop.com.

I have no clue why others knock her - maybe they don't like the truth about skin care.


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## Adrienne (Apr 11, 2008)

I have one of her books and its always so interesting to read. Her book is one of the reasons I stay away from some of the companies I do. Surprisingly she agreed with most ppl on why they hate this or love that.


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## magosienne (Apr 11, 2008)

thanks for posting, i like her too.


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## laurreenn (Apr 12, 2008)

i've flipped through her book before but this was interesting! i'm checking out her website.


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## ColdDayInHell (Apr 12, 2008)

Originally Posted by *Labrat81* /img/forum/go_quote.gif I like Paula a lot. I actually had the opportunity to have lunch with her a couple years ago (she sat across from me at a lunch at an SCC seminar where she was a keynote speaker.
Her part of the seminar was really neat. She displayed a bunch of ingredient labels of really expensive products and compared them to products found in a drug store......as a cosmetic formulator I was really appalled by how much these companies (like Lauder's Cream de le Mer) charge for their products. Really consumers know no better.....often they think because something is more expensive it's better.....that's what they want you to think. I've formulated both high end and low end products, and really there is hardly any difference......sometimes the packaging or the fragrance is more expensive......

She's right when she says no skincare product sold over the counter can eliminate wrinkles.....topical retinoids (which are RX only) can help...and those neuropeptide creams that cost a fortune really don't do much. The peptides don't penetrate into the dermis where they need to be to work.......hence why the neurotoxin we know as botox...is injected. Something like hyaluronic acid sounds nice....however glycosaminoglycans like hyaluronic acid are huge hydrophilic molecules that can't penetrate the epidermis and reach the dermis where they actually plump up skin.....hence also why hyaluronic acid is injected as a filler....topically it doesn't do much more thean glycerin....and is 5000 time the price......IMHO one of the best skincare ingredients for keeping skin healthy is glycerin.....no marketing story behind it. It's old as dirt. It's cheap....but amazingly effective......often consumers can be tricked into thinking their anti-wrinkle potion is working intially becaue their skin seems to have a healthy glow....and is smooth and soft.....fine lines may be less noticeable.....no it's not those expensive neuropeptides......it's the glycerin that might be third or fourth on the ingredient list.......

Sometimes I feel bad about how consumers are so easily taken advantage of, because they don't know any better....although I can't say I haven't formulated with a product with a neuropeptide at 0.00005% in a formula and then added 5% glycerin so we could substantiate our outlandish claims.......

Thanks for the inside scoop, Labrat81! I have never bought a skin cream in my life because I do not believe in topical anti-aging products. And if the anti-aging/anti-wrinkle product seems to work, it's only because it is *temporarily* giving the *appearance* of plumper, smoother skin. Short of invasive procedures like botox and cosmetic surgery, aging well boils down to good genes and healthy living. Unfortunately, many people find it hard to accept that fact and would prefer to delude themselves into believing that there is a miracle cure in a jar. And therein lies the reason for the booming success of the multi-billion dollar skin care/cosmetic industry.


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## magosienne (Apr 12, 2008)

yes, lol, everything that's labelled miraculous is sure to be in top of the sells.


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## HiGHLYFE (Apr 12, 2008)

Interesting, I always wanted to try La Mer, but the price tag had me dragging my feet.


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## laurreenn (Apr 13, 2008)

yea i heard this rumor that this lotion by nivea had the same ingredients as one of la mer's moisturizers. isn't that crazy?


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## Retro-Violet (Apr 13, 2008)

hmmmm well i did just went to seattle today.

i should go and stalk her (j/k) and have her tell me all her secrets so i can then share them with you all here.


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## laurreenn (Apr 13, 2008)

does anyone know where there are any more of her articles?


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## Dragonfly (Apr 13, 2008)

Paula has a website called cosmeticscop.com.

I subscribe to her newsletter - every Thursday she has some kind of a report, and a few reviews.

She has another website but you have to pay to belong. I think it focuses more on reviews.


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## ivette (Apr 14, 2008)

thanks


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## Kathy (Apr 14, 2008)

Good article! I like Paula too! Thanks for posting!


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## shimmerE (Apr 15, 2008)

thanks for the info.... i love Paula's site!


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